As of kernel 3.6, out of the box the keyboard works perfectly and the touchpad works with basic functionality (no multitouch). A driver has been written to enable full multitouch support but has not yet been included in the mainline kernel. To use this driver, you will need to use a kernel with the driver built in. There are two kernels in the AUR that include this driver: [https://aur.archlinux.org/packages.php?ID=63932 linux-xps15z] and [https://aur.archlinux.org/packages.php?ID=60736 linux-mainline-dellxps]. See [[Kernels/Compilation/Arch_Build_System]] for information on compiling kernel.

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Touchpad is fully supported in kernel 3.9 or later. Make sure to install xf86-input-synaptics as well as a program such as synaptiks so that you can customize all of the features.

System Setup

Hangs on boot

Sometimes when boot the laptop with the default kernel it would hang at uevent detection, to prevent this from happening add kernel boot param nox2apic
edit /etc/default/grub

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="nox2apic"

Graphics

Dell XPS 15z has two graphics card installed, Intel integrated graphics card and Nvidia 525m card. Nvidia card is using Optimus technology. Initially, both the Intel integrated graphics and the Nvidia 525m card will be active, consuming a lot of power. Unfortunately, Optimus is currently not supported in Linux by Nvidia driver nor nouveau driver, so you need to install the intel driver and disable Nvidia card.